1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to refuse compacting machines, and more particularly to refuse compacting machines especially designed for reducing the volume of refuse generated in fast food restaurant and similar applications.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Most fast food restaurants provide trash receptacles near their exit doors where patrons are expected to deposit the boxes, paper glasses, wrappers, napkins, placemats, etc. which are provided at the time that the food items are served. These trash receptacles typically comprise a wood, metal or plastic cabinet in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped and contained within the cabinet is a structure for supporting a polyethylene trash bag so that the open mouth thereof spans the internal dimensions of the trash receptacle beneath a refuse entry door. Patrons, upon leaving the restaurant, will dump the contents of a serving tray through the refuse entry door and then will place the serving tray atop the trash receptacle for storage until employee personnel remove them for cleaning and reuse.
Because the waste paper and food products are not compacted in any way upon being deposited into the prior art trash receptacle, the trash receptacles have to be emptied frequently and new trash bags inserted. This is not only labor intensive but also requires a large storage area where the filled bags of trash can be stored until a commercial pick-up service comes into remove them. Moreover, most commercial refuse collection services charge on a volume basis rather than a weight basis.
Refuse compactors are well known in the art. They generally comprise a cabinet having a compaction chamber at the base thereof and disposed above the compaction chamber is a hydraulically-driven, reciprocally moveable compaction plate. The cabinet includes a refuse entry door that necessarily must be positioned beneath the topmost position assumed by the compaction plate. When refuse is deposited through the refuse entry door, it falls into the compaction chamber. Upon actuation of the hydraulically operated compaction plate, it descends from its topmost position into the compaction chamber to compress the refuse present therein. Typical of such a prior art refuse compactor is that described in the Fox et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,732, which is assigned to applicant's assignee.
Because of the space necessarily occupied by the hydraulic motor, hydraulic pump and hydraulic ram used to drive the compaction plate must be above the level of the refuse entry door, in the past a refuse compactor typically would be up to 70 inches in height, i.e., about the size of a typical household refrigerator. A refuse compactor of this size has been determined to be impractical for fast food restaurant applications in that it is impractical for tray storage.
It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved refuse compactor suitable for fast food restaurant and like applications.
Another object of the invention is to provide a refuse compactor whose height profile is dramatically reduced.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a refuse compactor providing an optimal volume and weight of compressed refuse while still maintaining a low height profile to the compactor cabinet.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a refuse compactor that is safe for use by members of the public in disposing of fast food restaurant packaging materials.